Barb and I had a really great day yesterday. I finished removing the clutter from the music room to do justice (and to make me feel good) to Steve's remodel job. I'll be posting my system soon as I'm now not ashamed at the way the room looks. I do think there will be a lot of editing for several weeks as stuff gets swapped in and out.
One of my oldest and dearest friends I grew up with in Nebraska (Gretna, if you're interested) also lives nearby and his sister came for a very short visit. They have a good friend in similar circumstances to myself living here. She and her husband took the time to stop by and visit. It's been over 30 years since the last time I saw her and it was if we had remained close this whole time. The visit was much too short but very enjoyable.
A member of our local audio group invited his wife and himself over for a visit and to listen to some music. His system is comprised of an Audio Aero Capitole, Levinson preamp, huge Krell amp and Wilson Watt Puppy 7's. His wife has some of the better ears in the club being able to fetter out the good versus the bad in very short order. The woman is uncanny in her ability to discern lasting positive differences quickly versus the differences that don't endure after an extended period. She was absolutely blown away by the black background and total lack of surface noise of my analog front end. He is trying to determine what turntable to buy (a re-convert) after listening to Steve and my systems previously. Back to the story. Several times he remarked how great my system sounded and said that while his Wilson's did some things better than my Keilidh's my system was so very, very enjoyable. He even went so far as to say, referencing another club members +/- $100K system, that there was very little difference between the sound in my room and this other room that had been featured in one of the AV magazines. They were impressed with the room on several levels. First, it was apparent to them that the dimensions are very favorable for sound, a fact that I've learned to appreciate and be thankful for. I was lucky on this one. I knew the room would be ideal for this hobby when we bought this house but didn't have a clue about how important basic room deminsions are. Second, they both remarked at how comfortable the atmosphere is. Steve has incredible taste when it comes to design and hit a home run here. Having been around the block with this club I can tell you that getting sincere compliments like this don't happen unless they are real. The Ridge Street interconnects I've been breaking in this week have just made everything gel. There is no hint of glare, the increase in macro and micro detail is staggering, the sound stage is much more stable with increased layering. I can tell that I do need to move my speakers a small amount to maximize their disappearing act. It's funny that with my old interconnects doing this or that minor change didn't seem to make much difference. Now it's clearly for the better or for the worse.
Another club member is struggling with my situation and is kind of speechless and uncomfortable, not wanting to say the wrong thing. He's got a good heart but words seem to elude him. I wish he would just lighten up and go easy on himself and stop worrying about it. He sent a piece of vinyl as a gift and I've got to say this was a real discovery. It's a fairly light weight piece of vinyl pressed in Germany of Rikki Lee Jones most famous album. I've owned it on MFSL but parted with my copy a couple of years ago to an AudiogoN member that just couldn't seem to locate an affordable copy. I've missed the MOFI copy I parted with and haven't been able to acquire a domestic pressing that was quiet enough. This German pressing is dead quiet and I'd put it up against the MFSL pressing in every regard. It's that good. I've also never seen this pressing before. There is a circular sticker on the album jacket that is yellow with a big black exclaimation mark in the center. This was a great gift.
You football fans, please don't get angry with me but I'm having an anti-Super Bowl listening session today with a couple of friends. I do want to see the half time show and hopefully will see some of the better commercials as well.
Once again I'd like to thank Jeff Logan for the tuner. Barb and I tuned in KBSU, our local NPR station, and were blown away by the sound quality. Gene Harris lived in Boise and his wife hosts a two hour jazz show every Saturday evening and her taste in jazz is superb. I just didn't realize how much I would enjoy a tuner even with the lack of quality programming here. As a simple tool to break in IC's and cables it's cool also. Thanks Jeff.
One of my oldest and dearest friends I grew up with in Nebraska (Gretna, if you're interested) also lives nearby and his sister came for a very short visit. They have a good friend in similar circumstances to myself living here. She and her husband took the time to stop by and visit. It's been over 30 years since the last time I saw her and it was if we had remained close this whole time. The visit was much too short but very enjoyable.
A member of our local audio group invited his wife and himself over for a visit and to listen to some music. His system is comprised of an Audio Aero Capitole, Levinson preamp, huge Krell amp and Wilson Watt Puppy 7's. His wife has some of the better ears in the club being able to fetter out the good versus the bad in very short order. The woman is uncanny in her ability to discern lasting positive differences quickly versus the differences that don't endure after an extended period. She was absolutely blown away by the black background and total lack of surface noise of my analog front end. He is trying to determine what turntable to buy (a re-convert) after listening to Steve and my systems previously. Back to the story. Several times he remarked how great my system sounded and said that while his Wilson's did some things better than my Keilidh's my system was so very, very enjoyable. He even went so far as to say, referencing another club members +/- $100K system, that there was very little difference between the sound in my room and this other room that had been featured in one of the AV magazines. They were impressed with the room on several levels. First, it was apparent to them that the dimensions are very favorable for sound, a fact that I've learned to appreciate and be thankful for. I was lucky on this one. I knew the room would be ideal for this hobby when we bought this house but didn't have a clue about how important basic room deminsions are. Second, they both remarked at how comfortable the atmosphere is. Steve has incredible taste when it comes to design and hit a home run here. Having been around the block with this club I can tell you that getting sincere compliments like this don't happen unless they are real. The Ridge Street interconnects I've been breaking in this week have just made everything gel. There is no hint of glare, the increase in macro and micro detail is staggering, the sound stage is much more stable with increased layering. I can tell that I do need to move my speakers a small amount to maximize their disappearing act. It's funny that with my old interconnects doing this or that minor change didn't seem to make much difference. Now it's clearly for the better or for the worse.
Another club member is struggling with my situation and is kind of speechless and uncomfortable, not wanting to say the wrong thing. He's got a good heart but words seem to elude him. I wish he would just lighten up and go easy on himself and stop worrying about it. He sent a piece of vinyl as a gift and I've got to say this was a real discovery. It's a fairly light weight piece of vinyl pressed in Germany of Rikki Lee Jones most famous album. I've owned it on MFSL but parted with my copy a couple of years ago to an AudiogoN member that just couldn't seem to locate an affordable copy. I've missed the MOFI copy I parted with and haven't been able to acquire a domestic pressing that was quiet enough. This German pressing is dead quiet and I'd put it up against the MFSL pressing in every regard. It's that good. I've also never seen this pressing before. There is a circular sticker on the album jacket that is yellow with a big black exclaimation mark in the center. This was a great gift.
You football fans, please don't get angry with me but I'm having an anti-Super Bowl listening session today with a couple of friends. I do want to see the half time show and hopefully will see some of the better commercials as well.
Once again I'd like to thank Jeff Logan for the tuner. Barb and I tuned in KBSU, our local NPR station, and were blown away by the sound quality. Gene Harris lived in Boise and his wife hosts a two hour jazz show every Saturday evening and her taste in jazz is superb. I just didn't realize how much I would enjoy a tuner even with the lack of quality programming here. As a simple tool to break in IC's and cables it's cool also. Thanks Jeff.